Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is still looking for a defender and could be on the cusp of getting one if the talks pan out. The Sky Blues are searching for someone to take over from Vincent Kompany and it appears the target is Ruben Dias of Benfica.
Dias has had three strong campaigns with Benfica and was part of the Portugal team to the 2018 World Cup. O Glorioso could ask roughly $64 million if City pushes for a deal.
Manchester City could add some assets to the potential deal, with the name of Nicolas Otamendi coming up in talks. The Argentine has been deemed surplus for the Sky Blues after Guardiola took in players such as Nathan Ake.
If City is to get a deal done for Dias, the club needs to come up with one soon as the transfer window closes on Oct. 5. There are other clubs also keeping tabs on the status of the 23-year-old defender.
If a deal for Dias doesn’t happen, City does have other targets in mind. Among the names mentioned were Jules Koundé of Sevilla and Jose Gimenez of Atletico Madrid. But the main target is Dias.
Originally, the Sky Blues were linked to Kalidou Koulibaly. He was the preferred target, but negotiations have not made progress. With time running out, City is looking at other options, with Dias now looming as its top target.
The coming days should become interesting for Guardiola and company as they race against time to beat the transfer window deadline. Considering they struggled with the exit of Kompany and relied on Fernandhino, taking in another proven defender is a must.
Guardiola is also short of options, with Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko all sidelined by injuries.
Eric Garcia is still around, but he is in the final year of his deal. The 19-year-old Spaniard turned down a new deal, with several clubs expressing interest in him despite his close ties with Guardiola. That includes FC Barcelona, a club that is now in the retooling stages under new manager Ronald Koeman.
